*********
Ginny wasn't getting much homework done sitting in front of the fire and thinking, so she decided to move to one of the common room tables. She sat down in the chair and dropped her books down on the wooden table with a bang. Ginny pulled out a strawberry flavored sugar quill and sucked on it while she looked at her pile of books.
Time passed and Ginny was soon halfway through the assigned chapter in The Time Machine: Methods of seeing into the future by Fireena Elstrock. Her worries had been forgotten as she became engrossed in what was a surprisingly interesting school book. She was turning the page and reaching for another sugar quill when Hermione came and sat beside her.
"Hi Ginny," the bushy-haired sixth year girl said. A shiny badge glinted on her robes.
"Hey Hermione," Ginny replied with a smile, "How are prefect duties going?"
Hermione smiled and started talking about the many responsibilities of being a Gryffindor prefect. Ginny had to bite back a smile.
"...And of course it's a great honor to be a prefect," Hermione continued, "Although I don't know how Ron and I managed it seeing as how he and Harry always succeed in convincing me to break a million school rules with them."
It was true. Ron, Harry, and Hermione had broken more rules than one could count. Last year, Fred and George had tried to come up with an accurate tally by using a checklist of the rules. They would ambush the three in the halls and try and get them to confirm or deny the breaking of different rules, but Ron, Harry, and Hermione would never give them an answer. So they decided to ask around the school instead. They even went around asking all of the other Gryffindors. Seamus Finnegan was quite a help because he seemed to know more gossip than the other Gryffindor boys. Fred and George didn't bother asking the Slytherins. Everyone knows they're a bunch of liars anyway.
So eventually, after this very scientific study of gossip and hearsay, it was decided that the trio had broken no fewer than 173 specific school rules over their years at Hogwarts.
The twins had gone so far as to make a plaque to 'Hogwarts' most rule-breaking students' out of wood they had stolen from a broken cabinet in Trelawney's classroom. They had even enchanted the italic letters to change colors.
Angelina, Fred's girlfriend, had suggested that they should go with something that sounded better. Like most mischievous or trouble-making students. George had calmly informed her that he and Fred were planning on retaining those titles and didn't want to give them away.
When the three then fifth year Gryffindors received the plaque the next morning in the Great Hall they had gotten three very different responses. Hermione looked horrified and grabbed the plaque out of Fred's hands so she could put under the table away from notice. Ron had blushed red and smiled, looking rather proud of his accomplishment. Harry was much harder to read. He looked surprised and embarrassed at first, but after a moment his shyness faded and he looked the twins in the face and said, "One hundred and seventy three, huh?" and a smirk rose on his face. Then he thanked Fred and George and calmly sat down.
The rest of the Great Hall was abuzz.
"A hundred and seventy three?" said a Ravenclaw boy in awe.
"Brilliant!" exclaimed a fellow Gryffindor.
Malfoy and several other Slytherins started grumbling about stupid Potter and his bloody friends.
"If they've broken so many rules why don't they get in trouble?" questioned a Hufflepuff girl.
It was a question that the three Gryffindors had often asked themselves. They broke rules out of necessity and things usually turned out alright in then end. In fact they usually ended up somehow getting points out of the situation. They were Hogwarts golden children. A fact that most accepted, some envied, and the Slytherins hated.
Hermione, who looked like she was about to faint, was nervously glancing at the head table where the professors sat. She looked liked she was about to explode or burst out crying any minute.
However, just then Ginny, who had been sitting diagonal from Hermione, saw Ron put a hand on Hermione's shoulder and rub it slightly. He whispered some consoling words to her and she smiled, wiping a tear out of her eye.
Glad that Hermione was fine, Ginny turned back to the conversation nearest her. The subject of conversation was the one that had been foremost in her mind at the moment.
"What was Harry Potter smirking about?"
Several theories had been thrown about. One girl thought that Harry was smirking because the rumors of his rule-breaking had been so exaggerated. A boy sitting next to her hypothesized that maybe Harry had broken more rules than that. There was silence for a moment as everyone thought about the possibility and then most shrugged it off and laughed. Colin Creevy, who had also once been obsessed with the famous Harry Potter, added that supposedly Harry's dad was also once quite a trouble-maker at Hogwarts. Ginny kept her opinions to herself and just listened. When talk turned to the possibility of an upcoming Potter prank with the Weasley twins as the cause of Harry's upturned mouth, Ginny tuned out the conversation and looked over at the boy himself.
She saw Harry reassuring Hermione as Ron continued to rub her right shoulder. Hermione was looking much calmer and much more convinced that she wasn't going to get expelled because of all the rules they had broken and seemed to realize that the teachers hadn't even been listening in the first place. All of the sudden Harry made a comment that caused both of his best friends to smile broadly. Harry was smiling too and it was that brilliant heart-stopping sort of a smile that still made Ginny go weak in the knees. And he probably didn't realize what kind of effect his smile could have on a girl, blast him.
"...And I was so surprised when the letter came by owl saying that I'd been selected to be a Gryffindor prefect last year. I didn't think I had a chance." Hermione's voice dragged Ginny out of the past.
Hermione might've been surprised that she had been named prefect, but nobody else was. Even with all the rules that she helped break, she was the world's most perfect student. Hermione had been top of her class for five years running and would probably be the top student this year too. She was always doing extra research and probably knew more spells and charms than most of the seventh years. And ironically, she had a real penchant for the rules.
Nope, nobody was surprised that Hermione Granger was a Gryffindor prefect.
"Well, you're doing wonderfully," Ginny said.
"Thank you," Hermione beamed, "So what are you working on?"
"Divination," Ginny replied.
"How's that going?" Hermione replied.
Ginny smiled at Hermione's interest. It wasn't an interest in the subject of divination, Ginny was sure of that, it was an interest in her as a friend. Ginny and Hermione had gotten very close the past two years and had found out that they had a lot in common. Besides the fact that Hermione was friends with Ginny's brother, they also took a lot of the same subjects in school, such as arithmancy, transfiguration, and charms. Ginny was very interested in the muggle world, which Hermione of course knew a lot about. They both had an interest in Harry's well being. And they also knew of the difficulty of making friends. Hermione didn't have many friends aside from Ron and Harry because she tended to bury herself in homework. Ginny didn't have many friends because most people were cautious around her after that whole incident first year.
Ginny had considered telling Hermione about her dreams. She couldn't talk to Harry about them for reasons that were blatantly obvious and she couldn't tell Ron because he'd be overprotective. She couldn't bring her best friend Rowena into the situation. And writing her mum was out of the question. Hermione was the only possible choice.
Ginny still wasn't sure that she should tell Hermione though. What would she say? Divination's going fine, oh and I think I might kill one of your best friends in the near future.
Plus, knowing Hermione's views on predicting the future in the first place the best she would get would be a comforting 'it's only a dream speech'. Hermione considered divination of any sort a waste of valuable learning time. In fact, so did most of the school. That was the reason that Ron and Harry were still taking it. Because it was a joke of a subject and the easiest to B.S.
Ginny wasn't so sure that divination was a joke. Oh, Trelawney might be a fake, but the subject itself was a different story. The predictions that Ginny made in that class often came true and she couldn't ignore that. She'd also been getting the funniest feeling of deja vu more and more often. Sometimes Ginny even felt like she'd heard the day's lessons before they'd been taught.
No, divination wasn't a joke. A bittersweet surety that made Ginny's dreams even more dire. Because they felt real. And they were becoming clearer.
And until she figured out what was going on, Ginny couldn't tell anyone anything. Because Hermione would tell Ron and then Harry would find out and try to help. And I need to stay as far away from Harry Potter as possible.
"It's going fine Hermione," Ginny said.
Hermione was looking at her quizzically and Ginny wondered how long it had taken her to respond.
"Are you okay Ginny?" Hermione asked while she started to give Ginny the same concerned look that Harry had given her a few hours ago.
"Yes, I'm fine," Ginny said quickly and rather unconvincingly, "but I just realized that I have to go to the library because I told Colin I'd study with him. So I'll talk to you later. Bye!"
And Ginny leapt out of her chair and went straight over to the portrait door, quickly saying the password.
"Ginny!" Hermione called after her as she stepped out into the corridor, "You forgot your -"
The door slammed shut before Ginny could hear the rest of what Hermione was yelling. Ginny took a deep breath and started walking. She went quickly around the corner and immediately ran right into a solid body.
**********